SHERRIE WEBSTER

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Sunday, 13 May 2018

"Omg, you look like Kylie Jenner' has been a phrase that has been voiced in my direction a fair few times by strangers and by people who I know personally. Even though I would always reply with 'Oh I wish' I've only just become certain that I couldn't be more, unlike Kylie.

I thought it would be interesting as I have grown my instagram to around 9k to try out a little experiment and actually turn myself into the infamous Kylie Jenner as best that I could, with the focus being her outfits.

I very luckily was gifted a few sets of hair extensions but always preferring the blunt cut personally I thought for this project they would come in handy... although in person they looked incredibly trashy as my hair didn't blend into them at all but, we all make mistakes.

I started off the transformation with a simple outfit which was all sourced from the highstreet.

My Following at the start: 9130

With 71 comments, 686 likes. The analytics behind the image went down well with my following in which 26 people saved the image. Reaching 6K impressions.

I didn't make it obvious what I was doing at this stage as I wanted to see how people would react and if anyone would treat me differently?

I got the generic comments about my appearance, in a good way and the outfit went down well with everyone... the only thing that does annoy me is that I couldn't find snakeskin boots so I had to deal with what I could get my hands on.

One thing I didn't comprehend at all when taking these images were the positions she gets herself in, I'm lucky I am blessed with a bit of a booty but otherwise I'm on the verge of falling over in order to get this as close to the original... and half expecting someone to walk outside their home telling me to move along!

The second picture

(I tried to keep up with my 2 posts a day)

Again went down very well, with 729 likes and 53 comments and 16 people saving the image also. Reaching a little less than the first image, this image reached 5.5K people.

It was qutie hard to find a dress that was similar in tightness to Kylie's, so I had to compromise and use what I had at my disposal and I literally had to clip the other side of the dress that you cant see in order to get it to the tightness I was happy with. The sunglasses aren't the same but they are similar. I also used my boyfriends shoe that had a similar backing to the ones Kylie was wearing.

I got a lot of comments surrounding my appearance again.

"caitlin_simons007 - looking like that photo of Kylie Jenner, stunning!!"

"me_alexisjade - Are you copying Kylie Jenner for a week or something ?? (eyes emoji, followed by 4 heart emojis) love it."

"trcukx - Kylieeeeeeeeeeeee (hands emoji)"

This is the 'I did the best I could without having a multimillion pound mansion...' this one I felt wasnt as obvious that I was imitating Kylie, but it still did well on social with 792 likes, 50 comments and 26 saves. I find it interesting how many people saved the image when it is simply a recreation itself... this image also reached around 6.6k impressions.

Again comments on my hair and legs which are central within the frame so I was expecting that would be the thing to draw people in, I also got comments throughout as to where people could get these items but I felt like I should keep myself as "Kylie" and not reply back... which I felt incredibly guilty about.

"fashiontrain - You definitely reminds me of Kylie Jenner! xx"

When it came to this outfit, I didn't feel out of my comfort zone at all... this would be something alongside the previous outfits that I would wear anyway, maybe not with heels in the last image but I think it works well otherwise. I found it incredibly easy to imitate her outfits by searching the high street, but I found that I would have half of the clothing already in my overflowing wardrobe and it got me thinking about her influence upon me and my subconscious shopping habits.

This image did substantially worse than the others only reaching 4.6K people, 493 likes and 22 comments but still with 7 saves.

"maluvai - Kylie Jenner uhum"

"lima_ais - trying to be Kylie (laughing emoji)"

I was seeing such a decline in engagement and I didnt quite understand why... I was simply giving content that Kylie already has, granted but who doesnt love someone who looks like her??

With 452 likes, 22 comments and 4 saves this image only reached 3.5K impressions... which is one of the lowest impressions I have experienced on instagram in a very long time.

I didn't get any comments mentioning Kylie, but I again got those support comments about my appearance, and I did make me feel good about myself. I was genueinly enjoying dressing up, clothing for me is a form of expression and I felt like I had so much more confidence in the way I was posing but I couldnt help but compare my body to Kylies, I felt incredibly underweight and skinny in comparison, and I never thought I would ever be the person who would cry about being skinny but I did and it got to me constantly. I hadn't thought about editing my body but I did have a little experiment with images further down the line.

Now on the contrary to my previous comment, this image actually did amazingly in the terms of likes and comments - 905 likes and 64 comments with a whopping 38 people saving the image. Reach of 8.3K impressions.

I found this body positioning very hard, although the jumper fits me amazingly it was an off the shoulder fit which was different to the one Kylie was supporting in her image but it was a good dupe, I had to actually tuck it in as you could see right down my top. This image is completely unedited apart from lighting etc which I did all on my phone. Again the positioning of the body I found difficult, my back is a breaking point ahaha it doesn't bend any more than this and I'm not sure how hers does it!

"tvnytea - you look like kylie jenner (heart eyes and heart emoji)"

"charlottestrong - Kylie Jenner who (woman emoji)"

"hannahaustyn - This is so Kylie Jenner (woman emoji and pink heart)"

"kimwildberly - Kylie Vibes (glasses emoji and heart eyes emoji)"

"prettylittlething - we're so feeling this rn (plethora of emojis)"

(interesting that the brand commented on my image)

"itsginadreka - You look like Kylie Jenner in this"

and a lot of comments including the peach emoji... well I tried and I guess my back flexing was worth it.

Now Kylie is no stranger to a tight dress, but this was the first image that I edited my body in, I flattened my stomach, I did try to make my boobs bigger but it looks incredibly edited and I wanted it to be a subtle progression. I did make my bum a little bigger from that side angle and in turn made the thigh bigger to level it out.

It reached 5.5K impressions, 468 likes, 22 comments and 5 saves. I didn't get any Kylie related comments on this image but again as you can see the engagement with the image was down.. I think people were confused as to what was happening as this would be something that I would wear out out, and be chilling in the day.

Now like other outfits I tried to get my hands on, a lot were out of stock and rightly so as Kylie has actually pictured herself in this exact set (well obviously a different pair obviously) but again I wasnt worried about getting my body out as I thought I was happy with my body but I found myself tampering with the side closes to the edge of the frame. Although it was suggested that I wear a push up bra / make my boobs bigger but I've never been bothered or insecure about the size of my boobs and it wasn't about transforming my entire body the same as hers otherwise I would have entered the realm of prosthetics. But I was always happy with my lower half but looking at my body with a lot less clothing on that did accentuate my 'curves' I still found myself comparing to a body size I don't think I could ever get too and then being happy with such weight gain.

You might think that because I had a lot of my body out that this picture would have done well... in my eyes it didn't do as well as it should have as it only reached 5K impressions. 522 likes and 20 comments and 7 likes... I was wondering if it was the same people saving the images. Desipite my own discrepancies, the comments all were about 'my body' but I couldn't help wonder if people saw that I was editing myself? and what they have to say about this.

Now what I enjoy the most, a mirror selfie. Reaching 6K impressions, this engagement wise did really well getting 716 likes, 27 comments and 27 saves.

"maluvai - You wanna be kylie so bad"

"halleasworth - Kylie !!!!! (monkey emoji and heart emoji)"

Now the previous comments of 'maluvai' confused me and kinda got to me as in my head I was doing this as an experiment for university, thinking about the way in which celebrity culture has informed the way in which we purchase and the way you can present ourselves on social media as anyone we feel like... but to her, it seemed like I literally wanted to be Kylie and that was it.

650 likes, 23 comments and 31 saves & with over 5.5k impressions.

Throughout the imitation it became more and more apparent to me as to why Kylie is so influential to such a huge audience, her clothing is so easily accessible and frankly pretty cheap as well. You can dress like Kylie for under 20£ easily. They're all basic items that everyone will probably already own so it's just styling them in the way she would and you're there.

(couldnt find instagram post)

I wish I did actually have a blonde wig for this image but the focus was on the outfit decisions and I remember buying this shirt PURELY because of this image of Kylie Jenner, and I am obsessed with this shirt... I do however wish I had got it in a larger size but I do remember it selling out incredibly fast so I'm sure I wasn't the only one influenced to buy it by good old Ky.

I felt like my following was taking a real hit from this project because I was making myself into someone else, and I gained this following by being myself. But I didn't understand I obviously took a lot of inspiration from Kylie as to how I dress but I guess it's different when you can style things in your own way.

This image only reached 3.6K impressions, 359 likes and 19 comments and a mere 2 saves.

I couldn't take myself seriously when you put these two images together, I wish I had enrolled a significant other to play the best friend role within these images but I didn't think about that when it came to taking the images. As well as dressing the same I wanted to put myself in the same pose in order to anchor the idea of the project. Reaching just under 4K impressions, 497 likes, 32 comments and 6 saves I was worrying about my Instagram account and its integrity throughout posting this content.

"sarahjholder - Kendall Jenner's twin I swear. Love this"

"justmoifashion - Kylie Jenner no? (heart emoji)"

"maddiedoreyxo - Kylie J - the blue on blue helped me decide xx"

"scoutwhitaker - Kylie Jenner?"

"schlozzer - Kylie Jenner is that you?? (fire emoji)"

"em.co - Kylie!"

"asos_georgia - Kylie who?"

I didn't think would see that resemblance with this image but it happened to be the most obvious and the grounding point to my followers what I was doing. I also edited the sides of my hips in order to give me more curves and I actually love the way it looks, but I felt like I had to constantly breathe in and find myself a position similar to hers as they just were flattering positions for my body.

Another mirror selfie that was personally my favourite, but didn't do as well as I would have hoped. just under 4K impressions - 404 likes, 20 comments and 4 saves.

Nothing much to say about this, but this outfit was from a while back within Kylies Instagram. I edited my bum a little bigger but that's all. I always feel weird editing myself as I have always put myself on Instagram as I was and I always made it a thing that I never edited my images I would just upload raw images without any filter on them as I didn't enjoy the preset Instagram filters.

I personally hated this picture of myself, my hair looks an absolute mess but it did okay on the social. I'm not sure if people saw the likiness within this picture.

4.5K impressions, 639 likes, 20 comments and 11 saves.

Getting very close to the end, I found this one the hardest when it came to my body shape, I couldn't reach my head with my arms being rested on my legs and it was incredibly frustrating. I didn't understand how she could bend her back the way she was and still managine to have her head resting on her arm but after removing the matress of the bed, I finally cracked it.

One of my lowest enagements out of all of the images with only reaching 3K impressions, 439 likes, 16 comments and 5 saves.

"_jessicaskye - Kylie Jenner Vibes (heart emojis)"

" kateehutchins - You are literally Kylie and I love it"

This was the last image I decided to post. It reached 3.6K, 516 likes and 40 comments.

The mirror selfie images are so me, and theyre known to do well on instragram.

"kimwildberly - @kyliejenner vibes (heart emoji)"

"indiamoon_ - you look so stunning!! @kyliejenner vibes boo xxx"

"asos_georgia - Kylie??? (pink heart emoji)

"zaynahussein - Kylie Jenner, is that you??? (heart eyes emoji)"

"littlemisswinney - Oh hey Kylie"

"nicolecourchee - Kylieeee Style"

"Oliviaandalice - You look like Kylie Jenner!!"

"broganwest - Oh heyyyyy Kylie Jenner"

"bylaurenjane - Hey there KJ"

Although I started off completely into this whole idea of imitating Kylie Jenner, I found myself wondering about who I was and who I wanted to be on social media and that was... I wanted to be me. I had grown so much because I was me and I brought something different to instagram (in my opinion anyway). It was actually affecting me as I was losing followers and for most that is something that is incredibly superficial in the grand scheme of things, I would love for this to be something that I can turn into my full time job in a few years and for my mentality I decided that this was my last picture I would post on social media but I will share the other images that I took. This decision was something I came to after a few days of contemplation as it was for university but I felt like it was done and understood by my followers and I would actually like to keep my following how it is and not lose anymore and carry on being myself with a few hints of Kylie hidden in there.

I will not be editing my body and placing the images on social media, I found that it was actually something that affected my mental health. Although I would love to gain a little bit of weight and no doubtly like to grow the sides of my bum so I don't look so stick-like, I am actually incredibly happy with my body despite picking at every possible part of my body throughout this project.

Tuesday, 26 December 2017

Lay in bed watching the Kardashians (I know, super festive but I think I've worn out my boyfriend and his fam with my incessant need to watch Elf / Home Alone at least 24 times a day), Whilst you're here I have compiled a few baskets on my favourite websites to help you spend your Christmas pennies but also save some money.